Taiwan chipmaker UMC's pullback hurts China self-sufficiency plans

Beijing's dream of mass-producing semiconductors still reliant on outside help

A semiconductor plant in Anhui Province. President Xi Jinping's goal of achieving chip self-sufficiency faces resistance from the U.S., whose actions are spurring foreign companies to rethink their China plans. © Reuters

SHUNSUKE TABETA and KENSAKU IHARA, Nikkei staff writers

January 5, 2019 16:30 JST

BEIJING/TAIPEI -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's campaign to foster a self-reliant semiconductor industry has hit another obstacle as Taiwanese chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp. scales back cooperation with a Beijing-backed partner over tensions with the U.S.

"Semiconductors are like the human heart," Xi said while visiting chip producing companies in the Hubei Province capital of Wuhan last year. "No matter how big a person is, he or she can never be strong without a sound and strong heart," he said, urging businesses to make major breakthroughs that lift them to the top of the industry and contribute to the revival of the Chinese nation.